I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to roofs used on vehicles and more particularly to roofs that may be opened to admit light and fresh air to the passenger compartment of automotive vehicles.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Designers and engineers have been highly successful in protecting the passenger compartment of automotive vehicles from inclement weather. Moreover, many vehicles are produced today with sophisticated air handling and temperature control systems to maintain a comfortable pre-selected environment within the passenger compartment, irrespective of conditions existing outside of the vehicle. Nonetheless, there remains the desire on behalf of some people to occasionally experience their environment directly. These people wish to enjoy an uncovered passenger compartment.
The prior art discloses many ways to provide a roof for the passenger compartment of an automotive vehicle which is both sealed against inclement weather and which can be opened for the added enjoyment of the vehicle's occupants. These methods include rigid completely removable roofs and roof panels, rigid sliding roof panels, flexible folding convertible roofs, and flexible folding roof panels. There are many problems associated with the prior art.
Completely removable rigid and flexible roofs provide the occupants of the vehicle no protection against serious injury in the event the vehicle becomes involved in an accident and rolls over.
Rigid removable roof panels are difficult to remove and install, cumbersome to handle, and require valuable luggage space to store. In addition to the fact that all materials used for flexible roof and roof panels are subject to damage by vandalism, these materials also deteriorate with time and must be periodically replaced.
Sliding rigid sunroof panels provide one of the most attractive solutions to the problem of opening the roof of an automotive vehicle to admit light and fresh air while at the same time permitting the roof to be closed in the event of inclement weather. However, the prior art devices of this type all suffer from complexity of design, high cost of manufacture and an inability to open only the left or the right side of the aperture in the roof, in addition to opening the entire aperture, as the prior art devices all slide forward and backward along the main longitudinal axis of the vehicle.